French President Emmanuel Macron has posted a montage of deepfake videos of himself on social media to promote the AI Action Summit taking place in Paris. The videos show Macron’s face inserted into popular films, TV shows, and other media, including a 1980s euro disco hit, an influencer’s hair tutorial, and the action hero TV show “MacGyver.”
After the montage, the real Macron says, “It’s pretty well done, it made me laugh. But more seriously, with artificial intelligence, we can do some very big things: change healthcare, energy, life in our society.” He adds, “France and Europe must be at the heart of this revolution to seize every opportunity and also to promote our own principles.”
The video was posted ahead of the two-day global AI summit, which aims to bring together world leaders, tech executives, and academics to examine AI’s impact on society, governance, and the environment.
However, some experts have questioned the use of the deepfakes, warning that normalizing them makes it harder to spot fake news.
macron’s deepfakes highlight AI summit
Paul McKay, principal analyst at technology consultancy Forrester, says, “President Macron’s deepfake might seem like harmless fun to promote the AI Summit in Paris, but it is not in general a good thing.
Normalizing deepfakes in this way should not be encouraged as it continues the difficulty with telling what is real and what isn’t and is ultimately helping to establish what is fact from fiction.”
Dr. Richard Whittle from Salford Business School also warns of the risk of normalizing deepfake videos “both on social media and by scammers.” He adds, “It is great to bring attention to this threat, but doing it in a way that shows how easy it is to create deepfakes risks their wider adoption.”
There has been some debate in the French media over whether Macron should be trivializing deepfake videos when they can be used for harm. The EU’s newly implemented AI Act, which regulates the use of artificial intelligence, has faced criticism at the Summit for stifling innovation.
A global declaration of shared AI goals and ethical responsibilities is due to be revealed at the end of the Summit.
Noah Nguyen is a multi-talented developer who brings a unique perspective to his craft. Initially a creative writing professor, he turned to Dev work for the ability to work remotely. He now lives in Seattle, spending time hiking and drinking craft beer with his fiancee.
